Projects

A) Applied research projects

According to the Danish Energy Authority, fossil fuels covered nearly 83% of the energy consumed in Denmark in 2005. Beside climate change threats related to CO2 releases, serious concerns about the future coverage of our energy needs arise form the rapidly decreasing output of the North Sea oil fields. In order to avoid devastating societal impacts, efforts are undertaken to ensure a future sustainable energy supply. While wind power development is foreseen as a primary player in the future national energy production, alternatives for both energy conservation and new energy production technologies must imperatively be taken into consideration.
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) wires and tapes have an invaluable role to play in this respect. They can reduce energy losses in power transmission lines by a factor of 3. They can be used to reduce the size and weight, thus the energy consumption, of generators and transformers. Last but not least, they will be able to produce the high magnetic fields required in future fusion reactors.

Superior HTS coated-conductors via green processing

The so-called HTS “coated conductors” presently developed in view of power applications suffer greatly from a slow production rate and high manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the hazard risks inherent to some preparation steps should be avoided.
The aim of this project is to study, understand and master the underlying materials chemistry aspects needed for a breakthrough in the development of HTS wires suited for applications involving medium to high magnetic fields. A new approach based on green chemistry and the creation of atomic-scale controlled defects will be explored. The results will be used to develop a faster and safer, albeit cheaper production technique with improved end-product performances.

B) Fundamental research projects